Tag: politics

Coming and going

9:10 am

There are really only two important stories today concerning space exploration. The story that is getting the most coverage is the big news that the space shuttle Discovery is making its last flight, flying over Washington, DC, as it is delivered to the Smithsonian for permanent display.

Of these stories, only Irene Klotz of Discovery News seems to really get it. This is not an event to celebrate or get excited about. It is the end of an American achievement, brought to a close probably three to five years prematurely so that the United States now cannot even send its own astronauts to its own space station.

The other news, actually far more important, has gotten far less coverage, and includes three different stories all really about the same thing.
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More video proof from Project Veritas that voter fraud in Washington DC is easy to do.

3:18 pm

More video proof from Project Veritas that voter fraud in Washington DC is easy to do.

His new video shows Project Veritas going into poll locations in DC on April 3, being offered ballots for Ben Jealous, President & CEO of the NAACP; one Bill Maher; and David Brock (Project Veritas says they could not verify whether the David Brock for which they were offered a ballot was the same David Brock as the Media Matters president). Hilariously, Project Veritas also shows that you can’t get into Media Matters without showing ID. The video also depicts Project Veritas going to a polling place and asking about Alicia Menendez, daughter of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez (D) and political commentator on MSNBC; a poll worker asks to see ID, preventing Project Veritas from being offered Menendez’s ballot.

The failure to obtain a ballot for Menendez was directly because ID was required, which is the whole point that Project Veritas is trying to make.

And of course, the Democratically controlled Board of Elections in DC is right on the case, announcing that it has started an investigation of Project Veritas.

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Assuming it gets the necessary funds, Boeing anticipates flight tests of its CST-100 reusable manned capsule in 2016.

10:11 am

More news from commercial space: Assuming it gets the necessary funds, Boeing anticipates flight tests of its CST-100 reusable manned capsule by 2016.

This story is part of the on-going lobbying effort to convince the Luddites in Congress to subsidize the new commercial space companies. To get some context, even if Congress gives NASA all of the money it has requested for this program, the annual cost will still be less than a third of the NASA-built Space Launch System, and will get us four different ways to get humans and cargo into orbit, and do it in far less time.

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Despite protests from the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea is continuing preparations for the launch an Earth observation satellite.

1:37 pm

Despite protests from the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea is continuing preparations for the launch an Earth observation satellite.

North Korea recently entered into a food aid agreement with the U.S., which requires the Asian nation to halt long-range rocket launches in exchange for critical resources to stem the country’s widespread poverty and famine.

Officials from the U.S. and South Korea have said that the Unha-3 launch is a violation of this agreement, and could carry significant consequences. South Korean officials have said they may even shoot down parts of the Unha-3 rocket if they breach the state’s borders.

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The Obama administrations Treasury Secretary admitted Wednesday that the federal government’s debt is “unsustainable,” but then added that solving the problem shouldn’t be a top priority, because the government still needs to “do things.”

2:12 pm

Modern doublethink: The Obama administration’s treasury secretary admitted Wednesday that the federal government’s debt is “unsustainable,” but then added that solving the problem shouldn’t be a top priority, because the government still needs to “do things.”

Geithner’s refusal to confront what he admits is a looming disaster illustrates for all to see the normal operating policies of this administration.

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The Buzz Lightyear toy that flew on space shuttle has been donated to the Smithsonian.

8:42 am

The Buzz Lightyear toy that flew on space shuttle has been donated to the Smithsonian.

This news item illustrates the sad state of the American space program, when the arrival at a museum of a foot-high plastic toy that had been in space merits major news coverage. Worse, if we instead wanted to bring this toy back to ISS, we can’t, at least not without begging help from someone else.

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The House today passed the Republican 2013 budget, 228-191.

2:13 pm

The House today passed the Republican 2013 budget, 228-191.

Ten Republicans voted no. All Democrats voted no.

Though this budget might not be perfect, at least it makes an effort to face the budget situation. Note also that the Democrats have now rejected their own President’s budget as well as the Republican budget. In addition, the Democratic leadership in the Democratically-controlled Senate has already said they won’t pass a budget this year, the fourth year in a row.

The country is sinking in debt caused by the federal government. It behooves these elected officials to deal with it. That the Democrats won’t tells us much about their lack of qualifications for office.

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“a train wreck for the Obama administration.”

9:59 am

“A train wreck for the Obama administration.”

Trying to determine what the Supreme Court will rule on any issue by analyzing the questions they ask beforehand has generally been a poor predictor of their final decision. Sadly, we really won’t know what the Supreme Court will do until they do it.

Moreover, from my perspective it would be far better for Congress to repeal the law rather than have the court rule it unconstitutional. In the former it will be done by legislative action, backed by the voters. In the latter it would be the decision of nine unelected individuals, essentially expressing their personal opinions. In a true democracy the former is definitely preferred.

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Pick a destination already!

9:46 am

A report issued today illustrates once again to me that those running our space program in both Congress and the Obama administration have a profound lack of common sense or basic intelligence:

The NASA Advisory Council (NAC) – a body that provides the NASA Administrator with counsel and advice on programs and issues of importance to the Agency – has insisted a human exploration plan, or at least a destination, should be selected as soon as possible.

This request specifically applies to the Space Launch System (SLS), the heavy-lift rocket mandated by Congress that will use the Orion capsule. SLS is also the same rocket system that is costing the taxpayers $3 billion per year, and is expected to cost between $18 to $60 billion total by the time it flies its first operational mission in about nine years. The advisory council also noted that

While the vehicle hardware development is now moving forward at full speed, specific destinations – or a roadmap – is still lacking from NASA’s exploration plan.

It took nine different committees plus a central committee formed from the original nine committees to come to this Earth-shattering conclusion.

To put it in plain English, Congress and the Obama administration have committed billions of taxpayer dollars to the construction of a rocket and manned capsule without ever putting much thought into the specific mission they want to send that rocket and capsule on.
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The four best legal arguments against Obamacare.

5:10 pm

The four best legal arguments against Obamacare.

The fourth is probably the most devastating to Obamacare. No contract can be enforced if you are forced to sign it.

American contract law rests on the principle of mutual assent. If I hold a gun to your head and force you to sign a contract, no court of law will honor that document since I coerced you into signing it. Mutual assent must be present in order for a contract to be valid and binding.

Once again, we are skirting around that forgotten word called freedom. Obamacare has nothing to do with freedom. It requires participation, something that is fundamentally hostile to this country’s culture and law.

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